International Box Office: Quarter Billion Reasons to Say Smurf

September 1st, 2011

For the third weekend in a row, The Smurfs earned first place on the international chart. This time they pulled in $26.82 million on 9,023 screens in 48 markets for a total of $258.27 million internationally and $384.22 million worldwide. It was a pretty slow weekend in terms of new releases (it earned $739,000 on 137 screens in Denmark) but that changes next weekend with an opening in Japan, while Australia and Italy are also just around the corner. Even if the film had no markets left to open in, it would still get to $300 million internationally and $400 million worldwide, but even with these three major markets, it probably won't hit any other major milestones.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes reached $300 million million worldwide over the weekend adding $22.17 million on 5,727 screens in 50 markets for totals of $158.75 million internationally and $307.42 million worldwide. Its biggest opening of the weekend was in Brazil where it earned first place with $3.56 million on 538 screens. It made almost the same amount during its third weekend in France, earning $3.51 million on 628 screens for a total of $20.77 million. The film opens in Italy at the end of this month and Japan at the beginning of the next, but while it should hit $200 million internationally, $400 million worldwide is probably out of reach.

Final Destination 5 shot onto the chart in third place with $20.62 million on 3,371 screens in 20 markets for a total of $28.41 million after three weeks of release. The film was huge in its Russia debut, earning $7.93 million on 1,056 screens and easily taking first place. On the other hand, it had to settle for second place in Germany with $2.30 million on 350 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $2.46 million. It could earn no better than fifth place in the U.K. with $2.37 million on 410 screens.

Cowboys & Aliens landed on the international chart for the first time with $13.82 million on 4,055 screens in 38 markets for a total of $34.84 million. The film debuted in a number of major markets, but only in France was it able to make much of an impact, where it earned second place with $3.28 million on 480 screens.

Cars 2 rose to fifth place with $13.32 million on 7,021 screens in 37 markets for totals of $336.89 million internationally and $524.25 million worldwide. The film is just about ready to surpass Monsters Inc. and WALL-E on the worldwide box office.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 missed the $10.00 million mark by the tiniest margin earning $9.999 million on 4,908 screens in 60 markets for totals of $931.53 million internationally and $1.30 billion worldwide. While the film will likely stick around for a while collecting a $20 to $30 million more, there's almost no chance it will reach any more major milestones.

That's it for the significant players at the box office. However, there were several other films that hit milestones. Bad Teacher and Mr. Popper's Penguins both reached $100 million internationally. The former also reached $200 million worldwide. Kung Fu Panda 2 got to $600 million worldwide since the last time it reached the chart. Transformers: Dark of the Moon finally hit $750 million internationally, while it now has $1.1 billion worldwide.